Strong global demand caused China’s exports to increase in June, though analysts believe the surge may have been due to foreign buyers “front-loading orders” in anticipation of new tariffs on Chinese-made goods, the South China Morning Post reports.
June saw the fastest growth in exports in 15 months – a year-on-year increase of 8.6 percent – and their value hit a 21-month high of US$307.85 billion. Compared with June 2023, the value of exported ships, cars and integrated circuits were up 53.8, 12.6 and 14.5 percent respectively.
Ding Shuang, chief economist for Greater China at Standard Chartered, told the Post that the result showed that “Chinese products still share robust competitiveness globally”.
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However, Ding noted that “such high exports could also be driven by exporters front-loading orders ahead of impending tariffs” expected to be imposed by the US and European Union (EU). He said he expected growth to slow to a more “reasonable” rate of around 3.6 percent in the second half of the year.
Both the US and EU have said they planned to impose hefty tariff rates on certain Chinese goods, including electric vehicles, due to subsidies these sectors receive from the government – a policy the West views as giving Chinese companies an unfair advantage on the open market.
China’s imports in June, meanwhile, fell 2.3 percent from a year earlier due to sluggish domestic demand.
